FoxSexpert: Why We're Obsessed With Vampire Sex

Fangs are everywhere these days, hoping you’ll also want a taste of the bloodthirsty fervor that has gripped the nation.

Between the best-selling books-turned-movies "Twilight Saga," HBO’s wildly popular "True Blood," and the CW’s "The Vampire Diaries," vampires have become a serious pop culture obsession.

"New Moon," the second installment of the "Twilight Saga," hits theaters this weekend, and it literally has teens and adults all over the world lusting after the movie’s lead vampire, Edward Cullen (played by British heartthrob Robert Pattinson).

So why have these folkloric creatures made such an amazing comeback? In two words: vampire sex.

They’re hot.

When "Dracula" was produced on stage in 1924, Bela Lugosi made vampires irresistibly handsome for modernity. But beyond hot bodies and good looks, it’s the male vampire’s depiction as the James Dean of Goth that holds the greatest appeal.

In desperate need of rehabilitation, these rebels are far from pure in thought and deed. Women can’t help but be drawn to these mesmerizing, misunderstood, moody bad boys.

Vampires are made all the more seductive because these soulless seducers with superpowers act as her protector, and they have the propensity to do good. Their story is usually as follows: she’s trying to "save" him, yet he gives her an excuse to be bad.

She has someone to blame for being so naughty, especially when it comes to her sexual desire.

They’re kinky.

Vampires became noticeably sexual with the start of the modern vampire era about 200 years ago. Yet vampire depictions throughout the centuries have involved subtle storylines of sexual deviants flirting with fetishes, for a killer mix of sex, romance, and violence. Since the 1950s, stories have become more overtly "sexplicit," with more recent movies and TV shows depicting or alluding to frenzied, frantic sex with aggressive appeal, which brings us to the next point about vampire appeal.

They’re into S&M.

Vampires like it rough. They like to bite. And their victims love the bites, scratches and handcuffs as depicted in shows like "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

Sometimes sadomasochists attract what are known as "fang bangers," (a term frequently used in "True Blood"), people who have a thing for manhandle-me vampire sex role playing. The bondage, domination and submission themes mixed with "true love" are perfect reason for stripping off your scarf or turtleneck.

They scare us.

There’s something about feeling spooked that gets humans going. People get in touch with their primal side, including the fear of death, at the thought of coming across a vampire. The dangerous lust of a vampire torn between staying in control with every lick of his prey revs up your body much like sexual response. And it’s delicious.

They tease us.

A number of scenes in vampire literature and on the screen only imply sex, with kink or lesbianism mostly alluded to. Audiences are left to assume that there was some sex, and while they’d love to see more, the pay off of is that their imaginations go wild.

This is especially true with scripts like "Twilight," whose stars heat up the screen with sexual tension, only to remain abstinent. Viewers thrive off of every episode filling them with sexual desires that only go unfulfilled. Still, there’s hope that maybe later on in the story they’ll take it all the way.

Ultimately, vampire sex is more about seduction and the thrill of the passion potential portrayed.

They always do the walk of shame.

And it has to happen before dawn. There’s no "morning after" to deal with, which holds huge appeal for some.

They make us beg.

When it comes to longing and lust, we love being preyed upon. Vampires go for one of our most sensitive erogenous zones, the neck, becoming even more magnetic as their victims most beg for life, for death, for sex.

They never die.

They’re not totally dead. They’re not totally alive. And they’re not totally human for that matter. These above the law creatures impressively defy all reality. We’re intrigued that these super-beings are more powerful than we’ll ever be.